The Price of Bananas

  Sweet bananas are very hard to find in the US. These small bananas are wonderful and are grown all over East Africa. Upon finding a street stand that had five good looking bunches of these bananas with more bananas on each then in US bunches, I used my newly-honed bargaining skills to go from 5,000 Uganda shillings (about $2.5) to 3,000 Uganda shillings (about $1.5). Happy at my price, I awaited my fruit as the vender when to get a bag. With the bag in hand, the young lady put a bunch of bananas inside.
 Then she put another inside, and then another until I told her 
that I just wanted one of the five bunches. For my $1.5, I was 
getting five times more than I had expected. 

  Up until this point,
 most prices we had seen were low, but still heavily inflated for
 tourists. Now I saw the true economic position of the locals, and it
 was startling. Living in mud houses or having to farm for your food
 are obviously not the way of America, but most people who I had seen
 seemed to be eating and living just fine. But realizing how little 
money the locals must have based upon this deal of bananas that the
 shopkeeper seemed very pleased with, I finally understood how poor
 these people were. However, multiple experiences in Africa and the book "Dead Aid" have
 me critically assessing the best way to help an impoverished people,
 especially one that at least here seems to be able to feed itself. 
First, the dependence upon handouts must be detrimental to those 
Africans who are raised to expect handouts and thus not actively 
pursue economy building activities. For example, when we stopped for
 lunches and kids came out to get cookie handouts, I felt bad giving
 them food because I am not something that they can reasonably aspire  to become, i.e. a well-off American. When our tour cook gave bread 
(which was very warmly welcomed) I felt much better, because it was a
 Kenyan giving to fellow country members and the kids could aspire to 
have a good job like his. When we visited an orphanage that was also 
a school in the middle of the day, the kids all took over an hour out 
of their day to put on a show that they must repeat every day to 
impress us and get our donation dollars. The fakeness of the show only left me with the bitter feeling that I would have 
loved to see what they were really being taught, if anything (they  should have been learning English but didn't understand "how old are
 you"). Instead, I felt that they were being taught how to best ask 
for money from others outside of their community or sphere of 
influence.

I am excited to look for sustainable ways to help promote African
 economic improvement that gives jobs and improves infrastructure 
instead of providing aid that is consumed today and necessary again
 tomorrow from outside of Africa.

Gorilla and Chimp Tracking

To see our furrier cousins in their natural habitats in the rain forests of Uganda, we went Mountain Gorilla and Chimpanzee tracking. Beyond the beauty of the high jungles we entered to view these magnificent animals, the tracking was grueling. Up and down some of the steepest dusty slopes I have ever seen for hours to finally the primates. While intellectually spectacular because of the chimpanzee's closeness to homosapeiens, seeing 26 of the 700 mountain gorillas in the world was truly a highlight of the trip.  The chimpanzees were content to stay high up in the trees and throw sticks and branches down upon us (they were directly overhead) while feasting on fig trees. The gorillas on the other hand surrounded us. With three giant silverbacks (the full-grown males), tons of baby gorillas, and mothers grooming their children, we got a full view of primate life. The gorillas literally surrounded us; they were in trees, on the ground, and even blocked our path to leave the jungle. For one glorious hour, we were a part of the jungle and these animals were our friends...they patiently tolerated our viewing and the babies even put on some shows for us as the tried to climb trees only to fall with a look of utter shock that was nearly as cute as when they chose not to walk to move and instead grabbed their feet and rolled down
hills.

I know, I know, with the beard it is hard to tell which one is the gorilla...

Africa's Snake Oil

Billboards across East Africa display happy families playing in backyards smiling because they have Life Bouy, some magical product that is proven to reduce illness by 99%! What could this African snake oil be? Some Maasai natural herb like those tree roots sold in the slums? Perhaps some witchdoctor's brew concocted from rare herbs found only the Ngogoro crater. No, Life Bouy is antibacterial soap that is sold in giant displays in grocery store. Where Americans have Coke displays or specials on candy and chocolate at the aisle heads of their stores, Africa has antibacterial soap.

On Being a Mzungu

The Swahili word for "white person" is Mzungu, and its frequent use to describe Michelle and I and our fellow travelers has been very jarring. We first heard the term when children were excitedly following us and wanting to shake our hand as we walked through Nairobi's slums.

 The idea of being one of the very few white people who go to the slums and their happy exclamations made their use of the term almost endearing. However, when we started our next tour, our guide used the term with something more like a sneer or at least a tone of disdain. Hearing the term from an adult in a dismissive tone such as "all of you Mzungu's" or "a stupid Mzungu did this" was very unnerving. As we traveled longer, this interesting word was used in a number of different contexts from individuals who I felt held no dislike of white people (excluding our tour leader). For example "Mzungu time" was said to indicate an exact time of meeting rather than African time, which is normally whenever a person feels is right or their previous job is done.
  After our travels in Africa, I see that the nature of the word is entirely dependent upon the context it is used, however such race-based descriptors of people still do not sit well with me.

Getting Cozy with the Wildlife

Camping in Africa is a wondrous experience. Animals are everywhere.
A run through of some of the animal experiences we have had at our campsites around are tent are as follows:
1. Goats and monkeys at one campsite.
2. Cows and dogs at another.
3. Geese.
4. Lions, hyenas, and buffalo.
5. Elephants (5 ft behind Michelle as she went to the bathroom) and zebra eating the grass around our tents.
6. Warthogs and hippos chilling as we drank soda and watched the sun
set beside a lake.
7. Frogs and lizards in the shower.
Monkeys were at multiple campsite and not only almost attacked me (apparently he didn't like my picture taking), but also stole food from nearby campers.
Truly energizing experiences that put me more in touch with nature than anything possibly could.

This is the trash can that we heard being moved by hyenas across the campsite in the night time.

Africa is no Breath of Fresh Air

No where amongst the beautiful nature of Africa has the air been clean enough to prevent coughing. In fact, it isn't surprising in the least that Africa has very high rates of respiratory infections and issues. Because all cooking is done in very close quarters with limited ventilation using wood burning stoves, trash is burned, dust is constantly churned, and in Uganda huge tracts of land are regularly burned for farming purposes, African air is always hazy and unpleasant.

Lunch Stops...Everywhere is an Adventure

Lunch stops on our tour typically consist of pulling to the side of the road and preparing sandwiches. But, there is always a special experience to be had including the following:

1. Being told to leave the primary school we pulled up to because
 there was a meeting of the Ugandan Army there.


2. Seeing soldiers come out of the wooded area behind where we were 
eating (soldiers were heavily present in Uganda).


3. Being watched by men herding cows and goats that surrounded our vehicle and food (we were watched for 40 minutes from a distance of 
less than 10 meters).


4. Kids often came to stand around and watch us eat. Often our tour
guides would hand out bread or snacks to the kids' sometimes greedy but
 always enthusiastic reception.


5. A field of hundreds of butterflies.


6. Lunch literally on the equator.

Out of Necessity Comes Recycling

Recycling to me is the process of taking all of the terrible packaging off of food products and giving it to a company that probably uses many chemicals and energy to make that packaging into more pristine
packaging that I will then throw away again.  In Africa, everything is recycled from the cardboard boxes that are patched multiple times in grocery stores carrying produce to the clothes that are patched, buffed, and resold time and again until the tatters are made into carrying sacks. The nature of the freshness of food uses far less packaging, and even bottles are not plastic so that all bottles can be returned to bottling plants and reused in their glass form. Electricity is even conserved by having switched on every power outlet so that energy isn't wasted when electronics are plugged but not on.
  Now, of course, the trash that is created is either left at the side of the road or burned, but there is so much more reuse in the country that our wealthy country has completely abandoned that it is humbling,
even if the recycling is born of a dire necessity.

Ohio is famous!

So, everyone in Boston looks at me very strangely when I tell them that I am going to be moving to Cleveland. But at least in Africa, Ohio and its cities have a strong namesake.. .the Dayton Academy, the Cleveland School, and even the Cincinnati Investments Limited (an electronics store made of mud and sticks inside the Kibera slums of Nairobi) prove that the international reputation of Ohio is very
strong :)  Other signs seen along the road that are worth sharing include the Golan Heights Hotel, G-d's Mercy Unisex Saloon (you get some Holy Spirits with your haircut there). Speed limit signs sometimes ask you to slow for children and warthogs. Obama's name pervades everything from salons to restaurants to electronics shops. But please be ever so careful not to "Take advice from maurauding people on the streets" lest the people who put this sign up in the Kenya immigration office have no pity for you. Last but not least, let's not forget that "virginity saves," especially on the elementary school upon which this
sign was plastered.
   One bit of signage that can be seen everywhere in East Africa must be one of the best advertising campaigns ever. As popular as Guinness signs in Dublin are Coke advertisements that adorn every other shop sign. My guess would be that the brilliant Coke marketers offered free store signs to any little shop if the sign also showed a distinctly non-African women taking a refreshing swig of Coke.  Even more garrish then the Coke adds are every other building (this is not exageration) that is painted from top to bottom with all sorts of bright colors of the three mobile phone providers who own 20% of the market and viciously compete for market share.  In one final strange advertisement that must say something of the African psyche, coffin makers display examples their wares outside of their stores including extremely morbid and jarring baby coffins.
  The only bit of perhaps unintended advertising that was very amusing to see was the really old 15 passenger van that proudly announced that it was donated from Goldman Sachs, a financial institution that the banana farmers being transported on it will certainly have use for.

Job Security and Africa's Economic Plight

Most stores in Africa are independently owned, extremely small, have either second hand products or have identical products to their neighboring stores. Unfortunately, most store that were of any substantial size was not owned by Africans, and were instead run and owned by foreigners. While not only striking a bad chord with the people of Africa and being the source of Asian prejudice, this aspect of African life is only harshened by the reality that good jobs are very scarce and there are plenty of people lined up for jobs. For example, in an Indian owned large grocery store that was smaller by a half when compared to a normal American grocery store, there were over 80 employees out on the floor who outnumbered customers 3:1. These employees were paid a pitance at $65 a month. Outside the grocery
store, other most likely less lucritive jobs including multiple sowing machines on the sidewalk where tailors patched old clothes, a man charging people to be weighed by an ancient scale, and those street
food venders selling hard-boiled eggs. According to one tour guide, jobs (including his) are generally considered extremely unstable in Africa and no one expects a job however good to continue for very long. This fatalistic perspective is no doubt reinforced by the lack of tightly knit community ties between the non-African shop owners and their low-paid employees. My appreciation of the stability of American jobs for many was greatly enhanced and I only hope that the same will come to Africa in short order.

Here is a picture of the grocery store:

Seeing Life From A Bus

Our trip to Uganda to see mountain gorillas was undertaken in a massive 24 passenger truck equipped with a kitchen setup to feed us lunch on the side of the road while we travelled. Taller than a normal 45 passenger coach, the truck is truly massive, and incredibly bouncy. As we drove from dusk until dawn for the better part of a week in total, I must say that East Africa was fully displayed for us on the side of the road. Traveling on a bus that elicits staring from every one of the thousands of people who work and have their homes by the road is almost a personal experience. Every child waves excitedly and runs to the road to greet the foreigners with waves and chants of "how are you?!"

Commerce occurs at the road side not only in markets where bananas, tomatoes, corn, passion fruit, and potatoes are frequently sold, but also at the many speed bumps that are strategically positioned in all towns. Our cook frequently stopped to purchase carrots, bananas, and avocados from local farmers when the bus slowed at the speed bumps. In more populated areas, more industrious entrepreneurs try to hawk an enormous variety of wares to cars waiting for traffic including energy saving light bulbs, belts, soccer balls, cell phone chargers, sandals, and even power tools.

Along the way through Uganda and Kenya we saw two outdoor weddings, we saw a processional of 100 people singing their way to the initiation ceremony of a boy (aka the circumcision ritual), we saw the crowds surrounding 2 more circumcision rituals that were ongoing, in the lead up to a ministerial election in Uganda we saw two extremely well attended political rallies at which candidates were speaking, and we even saw an arrest in which four individuals were on the ground being held by machine gun wielding police officers.

The hours of travel showed people who were businessmen, farmers, poor and very poor, people playing sports, people finding afternoon shade outside their homes, women working fields, kids herding cows, sheep, and goats, and all other manners of every day life from which many of my later posts are derived.

African Safari

For the full set of pictures, please go to www.ethankarp.com and click on the photogallery on the right sidebar.  There are pictures of Africa and much more!

Riding in a combination of motor boats, giant overland trucks, and 7 passenger jeeps with a top that could be lifted for maximum animal viewing pleasure, Michelle and I have spent many days exploring the wildlife of Africa.  Seeing animals so close in their natural habitat is extraordinary, the excitement of an African Safari lives up to its name. Of the many animals we saw, I will now recap the most
spectacular:
1. Dozens of lions that were old, young, male and female all of over the Serengeti. A pride of 12 lions passed our jeep as we were parked such that there were literally lions less than 3 feet from where I looked down upon them...absolutely wild!
2. A cheetah lounging under a tree within 10 feet of our vehicle.

3. Two leopards (one of the rarest sightings) descending a tree that held the dead antelope that would be their meal.
4. Elephants that stood directly beside our vehicle (less than 10 feet).
5. A baby giraffe stuck between the road and its mother who trotted past us to get to her.
6. Baby lions drinking at a stream passing over the road.

7. Otters feasting on fish in a lake.
8. Hippos popping up in the water while we drove in a boat all around us announcing their presence as if we were in an amusement park ride with a loud snort and a plume of water as they exhaled beside us.
10. Buzzards and eagles fishing in waters that we boated in.
11. Buffalo and wildebeest herds crossing the road single file.
12. Hyenas devouring the carcass of a dead wildebeest.
These amazing animals were only matched the the extraordinary birds that we have seen everywhere including pelicans, finches, secretary birds, giant storks, vultures, parakeets, and hornbills.
The most interesting moment of our Safari experiences occurred when our wonderful safari group want nothing more than to see a lion chase prey across the Serengeti savannah. We almost got our chance when one of our sharpest party member's eyes spotted a lion whose sent was masked by a herd of nearby buffalo stalk into high grass as 5 small antelope were approaching. The lion disappeared and the antelope
were none the wiser as the munched their grass and edged ever closer to the lion. The minutes ticked away, and with baited breath we all counted the meters until the antelope was close enough. But alas, when they were within 20 meters of the lion, there was a loud grunting noise. The antelopes heads went alert and then they ran away from the lion. It was a baboon warning the antelopes of the lion, a beautiful
and interesting glimpse of the interconnectedness of animals and nature. Who knew how long the baboon had known of the presence of the lion, but seeing the intelligent behavior was perhaps more fascinating then even a chase would have been.

Africa is OLD

I suppose the presence of a country of farmers and herders and tribes should have reminded me of this fact, but the African people are very old. 3.5 million years to be exact. In the national Nairobi museum, we saw a whole bunch of awesome ancient skulls including the Peking man and Lucy and we went to a museum at the Ovadai gorge where many of the discoveries of million year old tools have been made over the decades. The combination of seeing these and being surrounded by monkeys reminds me of the wonders of evolution, and how very old the people of Africa truly are. Camping by the stars in this land of ancient wonders really brought home a sense of connectedness to the world.

Camping

The posts are edging ever closer to describing our actual Safaris, but first let's talk about our initial camping experiences. We spent two days in the middle of the Serengeti and one day at the top of the Ngorgoro crater (the potential birthplace of humanity). We were pretty pampered with a presetup campfire, a hot breakfast and dinner that was prepared prior to our arrival and presetup tents each day. Meals were extraordinary and camping felt more like being at a hotel with a full time butler. But, we were most certainly in the wild, as the presence of hyenas, giant buffalo, bushpigs (150 lbs pigs), elephants and zebra would prove. Our nights in the Serengeti were punctuated by the antics of hyenas eating our trash, walking around our tents, and generally messing up the kitchen while we slept (or didn't sleep in my case while I listed to the whooping of the Hyenas). I didn't see it, but there was a large buffalo laying beside our fire the first night, less than 20 ft from my tent. On the second night, there was a pride of lions who wandered into our camp while we slept and drank water near the bathroom (we saw the footprints in the morning). Finally, in the Ngorogoro crater, there were zebra in our campsite and while Michelle was in the bathroom, an elephant wandered literally 5 feet behind the permanent stall. I have never felt more connected with nature, and more glad that no animals wanted the sweet smelling deodorant that might have attracted them from my bag.

Addendum to Driving Post

So, apparently, I was asleep during most of the roads in Tanzania. The massage of the roads are less of massages and more terrifying bumps that threaten to overturn vehicles. Almost all cars are Toyotas, although I saw a sign for GM trucks on a billboard. Gas is ~$4, and only BP and Shell are apparently reliable, for their are many local gas stations, but most of these gasses are watered down (they originate from oil in the Sudan). Finally, according to a civil engineer on our tour, the massive potholes that seem to already appear on unfinished roads are due to poor quality asphalt that was used to
"pave" the roads.
   Traffic is not just congested and chaotic, it is legally screwy. Vehicles have different maximum speed limits, as designated by stickers on their bumpers. 80 kph for small buses, 65 kph for trucks, and 110 kph for small cars. And corruption among cops affects traffic to a heavy extent. Traffic violations are a whopping $70 dollar fine (including talking on your cell phone if you are a PEDESTRIAN walking across the street). For perspective, a good job working at a bank nets a Kenyan $400 a month. But, despite the numerous signs to report police corruption, traffic cops will get in your car if you make any violations and not leave until you pay them a bribe. How do I know? Because it happened yesterday when Michelle and I were the last people on a bus that was going to drop us off at our hotel. Our driver made an illegal turn and then stayed in our vehicle driving us all around town until our driver paid him off. Our driver was not happy and the officer's creepy smile and plea to us passengers that he was just helping the drivers with directions still sticks in my mind vividly.  I have never been as happy for American government stability as I was
at that point.

Three Towns in East Africa

Kenya and Tanzania are all about the animals, and there are certainly plenty of close-encounters of the animal kind to talk about, but there have been unique opportunities to learn about their cultures on our trip. We have visited three towns that I would like to share with you: a small rural village in Tanzania, a Masai village in Tanzania, and the city of Nairobi.
  First, it never really occurred to me that a developing country meant that not only is there no infrastructure (read: paved roads), but people are living as they have lived for a great many years. The small village we visited in Tanzania was broken into tribal trades, that is, there were four tribes in the town (of the 125 that compose the land of Tanzania), and each specializes in a specific expertise. We first visited a family living in a normal stick and mud house with four kids and their extended family, surrounded by banana trees and stray dogs. These were obviously banana growers. Through the mosquito ridden grounds of this family's house, we saw the expanse of rice patties that another tribe farmed, spending hours each day in the field with small huts for small children to play in while parents worked a 100ftx100ft plot of rice seed that would eventually yield 100 kg of rice. Across the street of the town, and past multiple ladies carrying 30kg+ bags of potatoes on their head (it is quite a sight) we entered a thatched roof tent surrounding the wood workings of the 7 men whose tribe specialized in carving all of the traditional African wood work that one sees in souvenir shops. We purchased a pair of candlesticks from the gentlemen who made them for a paltry $18 for his three days of work. Some pieces took these men 1.5 months to make and the men must make any animal that they see in a dream! Their wives, as it seems is the case everywhere here, took care of pretty much everything else in their lives such as family, food, and shelter. Our fourth tribe were beer makers. Not regular beer mind you, but banana beer that was made from some drying process of bananas. It was amazing to see the hard work and craft person nature of this small town, which was only surpassed by seeing the unique tribe in Africa, the Masai.

  We were greeted in the Masai village of 250 people by 40 men and women dancing and singing to a traditional tune that was punctuated by a guttural male chant and a female song that reminded me of the opening of the Lion King. The Masai are like the Amish of the African world. They are one of the largest tribes and have not integrated at all into modern society. They wear traditional clothing including elaborate jewelry, extreme earrings, colorful blankets that are worn as robes. Each Masai carries a stick to herd his cattle, the life blood of the Masai way of life. They are nomads who construct homes for 1-6 years before moving their cattle to another area. After the typical jumping contest during the greeting ceremony (some of these guys could have been in the NBA, seriously), Michelle and I were taken into a typical home by the son of the town chief. This home required us to squeeze in, and was made of sticks and cow dung for waterproofing (again, it was completely constructed by women, while the men herded cattle or stole cattle from others because they believe that all cattle are for the Masai). The house had one small hole for ventilation, two beds, a wood fire for cooking, and a small pen for baby animals. In this space of approximately 80 square feet, four or more children, parents and perhaps grandparents would live. An unbelievable feat, and an unbelievable experience to see a people choosing to live this way. The son of the chief who escorted us was proud that he, at 24, was about to ascend to chieftainship because he was well liked, and his father would soon step down (although, this son was only one of the many that the chief had by his four wives). Interestingly, the government supplies water to the Masai and allows them to graze in national parks so as to keep any conflict with them to a minimum and to prevent their cattle from destroying farm land. Meeting the Masai was an extremely strange experience that left me the proud owner of a beautiful beaded talking stick (another accessory held by males to accentuate their points) in lieu of my watch that I traded with the son of the chief. Apparently, I should have just been glad that I was not offered any traditional Masai food: sour milk and cattle blood.

The third town experience was seeing modern Kenya. Nairobi is the center of East African government, commerce, and population. The city has 4 million residents, 2 million of which live in Africa's second
largest slum, Kibera. Initially, the presence of about 4 high rises, a beautiful parliament building, and a gorgeous private road connected the house of the president to one of the nicest hotels in the city seemed lovely. A drive to the hill in the middle of the city showed us the headquarters of Coke, Citibank, Barkley's Bank, the British Consulate in beautiful areas. We also saw myriad enormous government offices that were almost as ugly as Boston's city hall including the Ministry of Fisheries and the Ministry of Road (after days of Kenyan roads, my back and butt have insisted upon the emptiness of this particular building). Nairobi seemed like a normal city with a lot of extra security, a lot of people walking, and horrible traffic. But we toured the slums today, and there is nothing like it. It is a mini world that is inaccessible by cars and if completely full of mud and stick buildings, children, and sewage in ditches on the road. We walked in the slums for a full 2 hours along the main roads that were lined with flies, stray dogs, and fish, chickens, and beef slabs sitting on the street. Small health clinics by aid agencies dotted the alley ways as did cafes and people frying the fly invested fish. Children called out "white person" in Swahili, and said the only English they know "how are you?" every five seconds. A small group of children wanted to shake our hand and follow us as we wandered the every winding roads (we didn't dare go off the main path, for even our guide said that he would be lost in a moment).
  Everything could be bought second hand here, including OSU sweatshirts or N'Sync 2002 tour t-shirts that were certainly donated in the US at some point. We passed the Cincinnati Limited store, specializing in cheap phone cards (apparently, this Ohio city has an appealing name to Kenyans wanting a store name). We passed stores specializing in herbal medicines and we passed hair salons suspended above 3 feet of rushing sewage water. Kerosene and coal was being sold for cooking, and everything could be found within this fascinating little world (including Halal meat) either in the stores, in the trash or in what
comprised the ground cover. Few people seemed to mind our presence, although one women seemed angry and embarrassed that our guide would take white people to see this area of her country. After a thorough shower, I reflected on what I found most striking after the total lack of sanitation...the community and life of the slum tenants. These people who pay no rent, and may even have a satellite for TV but not enough money to rent even the $100 apartments that are readily available lived in dignity. They sat in salons and had their hair done. They lived in filth, but ALL had pressed shirts that were cleaner than mine. There were hung plants for beauty, and gardens to grow vegetables. There were movie houses, and there was a large dirt area filled of kids playing soccer, waiting for the newsman to come to the public gathering area to fill in the details of the preceding day (the same area in which the President comes to give speeches). People were joking, kids were playing everywhere, and life was moving along, dare I say, even vibrantly in the world of the slum.

The East African Massage

This is a look from the FRONT of our bus.  These cars are coming TOWARDS us.

  Driving in California is fast, in New York it is scary, and in Boston it is confusing. In Kenya and Tanzania, it's just bumpy. We drove eight hours today to get halfway from Nairobi to the Serengeti National park. Traffic consisted mainly of 8 passenger vans that operate like taxis taking people all over the country. People are picked up all over, seemingly at locations in the middle of no where, and their luggage typically consists of large potato sacks filled of produce or other goods. The average 8 passenger (think the Scoobie Doo van with extra windows, no dog, and instead of doogooders there were grumpy Kenyans) van held 11 people, with the most packed fitting 14 with 2 people literally hanging out the door while the van sped forward at 60kph. The 66 bus in Boston started looking mighty fine!
  Every 10 miles was paved and every other 10 miles was a dusty potholed road. When we were passed, a dust cloud left 0% visibility for nearly 2 minutes. The potholes were so large that we spent a good bit of time riding the shoulder and nobody stayed in just one lane of the one lane highway. But, rest assured that praise songs were plentiful over the radio for 8 hours, perhaps the driver wanted all the help he could get. I looked on the bright side, when will I ever get a massage for 8 hours straight like the one that Kenya gave to me today in the car? Oh yeah...on the way home...

  As a side note, the scenery was striking outside the city, just like Africa of the movies only much more relaxing with the gently rolling hills and stout trees. I will try to keep order to my posts, hence more will come about nature later.

Michelle's Favorite Day

Uneventful flights landed us in Kenya, we hired a taxi for the day, and toured the major attractions of Nairobi, which were AMAZING. Here are the highlights:
   First, Kenya is NOT warm right now. In fact, it was about 60 F when we came in and only got to around 70 in the day time. I never thought that Boston heat could beat somewhere so near to the equator.  While driving to the Hotel, nothing strange was apparent in night time. Not even language, everything was in English without the presence of a second language! Beyond the advertising campaign with billboards showing a lady with glass saying "Smart People Read the Star Newspaper," nothing was particularly striking. That is, until we were awakened by the squack of a bird that could be likened to a cross between a squeak toy and kazoo at 6:30 am. We were then welcomed to Kenya with a deluge of Christian music in the restaurant and on every radio playing in cars (it was all quite pleasant, although very unexpected).
  On to our first sight, a giraffe feeding center. Yes, we fed giraffes, but we did not feed them from our mouths like many of the other visitors.

Then, we went to meet a group of baby elephants at an orphanage. These elephants were collected from wells into which they had fallen, from the hands of poachers, and from angry townfolk seeking revenge for the baby elephants' parents destroying their crops. The center nurses and socializes the elephants for 2-5 years before letting them into the wild (well, actually, they let the elephants go into a larger pack if they so choose). In fact, the elephants will often come back after a short period and go between the orphanage and the family to get more accustomed to their new environment, sort of like elephant college. What amazing animals, Michelle even got stepped on by one while it played to the audience by charging the crowd to everyone's delight (apparently baby elephants do not weigh that much). However, the mood was somber for the gathering, for two of the 16 elephants had died of sickness just hours before and many of the elephants were grieving. A truly extraordinary experience of understanding animal
behavior in such a majestic animal.



We then went to see a small zoo of rescued animals. One huge highlight...being let into the cheetah cage and pet/hug/be licked in the face by the cheetah named Wendy. Yeah, cheetahs are cool. Cheetahs licking your face, really cool. Michelle could not have been happier.




 We finished the day of animals off by a visiting an animal nursery and seeing some rescued baby lions, and assorted animals. We got some lunch at a really strange attraction for local Kenyans that had live African music, was an operating crocodile farm (which we did not pay $10 a person to view), a small amusement park, and was hosting a wedding because it had a very fancy restaurant. In fact, most of the attractions we visited were populated by Kenyans, and not international tourists.


We will be camping for a few days in the Serengeti, so until I can post again, have a great week.

Goodbye Harvard, hello world!

And so it is that I said farewell to many years in the venerable halls
of Harvard after many heartfelt goodbyes from students whom I taught
through a summer session of chemistry. After months of planning, I
had hoped that all would go smoothly as we prepared to leave...but...

The craziness began after I visited my family in Hilton Head, SC one
week before our trip. Michelle spent the entire week with my family,
while I spent the week finishing my teaching at Harvard. The week
started by three valuable boxes of our travel supplies being stolen
while finishing moving and continued with a frantic week long
expedition to rebuy everything. Michelle, meanwhile, over at the
beach was busy coughing, getting an emergency chest x-ray, and getting
medication for the bronchitis she developed. Not eventful enough, you
say? Well, that was day 1. Day 2 brought a family medical emergency
scare and a whole bunch of strange police phone calls reporting the
findings of multiple items that I threw away weeks ago as stolen
(unfortunately, none of the goods that were ACTUALLY stolen). Day 3
was uneventful, yet on Day 4 Michelle took the GMAT. One Day 5, the
day that we were to leave, the keys to Michelle's ride to the airport
got locked in the car. Then, she learned of a delay in her flight
that was long enough to make her miss her connection to Nairobi, which
would have resulted in her arriving one day late and missing the tour
and me altogether (we were going to meet in England in transit to
Kenya). Meanwhile, in Cambridge, I realized that we did not have
enough malaria medications as per the CDC's website and initiated a
mad dash to secure more. WHEW

As crazy weeks go, this one was pretty intense! I think that you
would agree :)_But, all worked out, Michelle and I are on our way.
Michelle got a whopping 780/800 on her GMAT, the highest score the
exam proctor had ever seen, the consulting club that I put so much
time into was featured in the Harvard Gazette, and my chemistry
students were very happy with their class.

Goodbye Harvard, hello world!

-written on the plane from Boston to England

Travel Itinerary

Starting on August 7th, 2010, my wife, Michelle, and I will be embarking on a round-the-world travel experience taking us to Africa, Asia, South America, and Hawaii.

The complete itinerary in the order in which we will be visiting them:

August:
Kenya
Tanzania
Uganda
September:
India
China
Cambodia
October:
Istanbul
Israel
November:
Rome
Buenos Aires
Southern Patagonia
December:
Iguazu Falls
Bolivia
Peru
January:
Galapagos Islands
Hawaii

All Packed Up!

After months of searching online, reading blogs, buying things at REI, returning things to REI, and generally spending more money than we ever thought was possible to fill one bag, we have our packs ready. We have required 6 months of clothing, supplies, and journaling equipment for our travels. Lightweight, quick-drying, durable, and UV protecting was the name of the game. We have also invested in some gadgetry including a full complement of semi-pro photography gear for myself.

Divided into categories, here is what we have packed and sometimes why we have chosen it. This will be a work in progress until we leave! When we return, we will include reviews of the things that worked best.

Most things were purchased from REI.com or Amazon.

Packs/Camping-like Gear:

• Gregory Jade 50L (Michelle) & Gregory JetStream 65L (Ethan) - Best fits for us both, hard frame and do fit in the overhead bin in planes (we have tried this recently). We considered going smaller, but the packs are compressable, so if we just don’t fill them then they will be smaller.
• Portable kitchen sink: for washing our clothes when a clean sink isn’t available.
• Clothesline: for drying our clothes. Has no pins, just two interwoven cords.
• 100% DEET
• Day packs: REI Flashpack 19 that can double as a stuff sack. A Golite 30 L pack (really light with no frame and a removable foam back). The Golite bag has a drawstring top which means that my long tripod can fit in the pack and is completely covered! Both have camel back slots.
• Platypus Big Zip SL 3 L camel backs.
• Steripen and iodine tablets just in case.
• Thermolite sleeping bags (rated to 30 F).

Clothing:All clothing was purchased for is SPF, quick drying, lightweight, and insect repellent character.

• 1 Tilly wide-brim hat.
• 1 Baseball cap with a neck protector (DORKY, but skin-cancer free!)
• Ex-Officio women’s undergarments.
• Eastern Mountain Sports male undergarments (much more comfortable than the Ex-Officio stuff).
• 3 Ex-Officio long sleep shirts with and without insect repellent for each of us.
• 2 pairs of REI brand pants.
• 1 lightweight dress
• Smartwool socks (3 pairs).
• One pair of Keen sandals and one pair of Merrill all-purpose shoes.
• Bathing suits.
• Sierra Rain Jackets (they fold into a very, very small little package and are warm).
• Wind-protectant fleeces.
• Eddie Bauer base layers.
• Timex digital watches and a cheap plastic Rite-Aid purchased clock with a loud alarm clock.

Gadgetry:

• Ipod for carrying music (if it gets stolen, so be it!)
• Multi-country adapters.
• Car adapter for camera batteries.
• 2 Kindles pre-loaded with books and travel guide chapters (only the information chapters and for cities that we do not have guides for) from LonelyPlanet.com
• Audio-technica QuietPoint earbuds - great sound quality with noise-canceling!

Toiletries:We purchased toiletries to be environmentally conscious (to phosphates, etc.) as well as for space and liquid minimization.

Lush bar shampoo (amazingly, it works well unlike all of the no water or all-purpose shampoo/soaps that we have tried).
Sunscreen (30 SPF).

Security/Important Storage:

• Pacsafe belt for spare money (the money goes inside the belt) and memory cards.
• Pacsafe metal netting to store bags while sleeping. This system probably attracts more attention then it should, but it prevents petty theft.
• Silk neck passport and spare cash holders.
• Wallet loaded with some money to placate any muggers.
• Dry bag for storing chargers and electronics.

Camera and Accessories:

• Canon 5d mark ii
• Speedlite 480
• Canon 100-400 mm IS L
• Canon 17-40 mm L
• Canon 24-105 mm IS L
• Canon 1.4X II EF extender with the pins taped so that the autofocus works.
• Gitzo tripod (GT0531) - super light and supports my camera fully.
• Two quick-release bases for the camera and the 100-400 mm lens.
• A magnesium fully rotating ball head with levels and the ability pan.
• Lowepro Bum Pack for storage (use the neck strap for stabilization) - holds the camera, the small lenses, a flash, and accessories.
• Lowepro Sliplock case 4 for 100-400 mm lens storage. The ring tripod attachment always remains on.
• Lowepro Sliplock case 1 for the small lenses (fits both the 17-40 mm and 24-105 mm) in case I want take it out of the bum pack.
• Vortex Media Storm Jacket for rain protection.
• A cheap clicker for hands-off shooting.
• B&W haze filters on each lens and one polarizer.

Weight Considerations: tripod setup is ~3 lbs and the 100-400 mm lens is also ~3 lbs. Both add to the weight of the pack, but the tripod is as light as one can get, and the 100-400 mm is a must-have for safari. Overall, with all accessories and bags, the camera adds almost 17 lbs to the total weight of my packs.

Batteries: 5 spare off-brand batteries (they don’t show the charge left on my screen, but they work and were only $15/battery instead of $60/battery).

Memory storage: Because the 5d mkii records ~300 pics/8 gb card when shooting in the highest quality RAW, I will take pictures in both the smallest JPEG for internet cafe downloading and the highest quality. I have purchased many 133X Kingston cards to store pictures.